Plastic pollutes oceans, food, your body. Yet nations are divided over a global treaty. Why all eyes are on talks for a U.N.-led accord to cut plastic waste.

Negotiators must move "significantly" faster to agree on a landmark treaty to curb plastic pollution, the diplomat chairing the talks warned Wednesday, as countries lined up to express frustration about the limited progress.

The EU’s push for a global plastics treaty is a crucial step toward mitigating the environmental and health risks of plastic pollution. The treaty hopes to create a more sustainable and circular global plastics economy by making concrete commitments to reduce plastic production, eliminate harmful chemicals, and ensure financial accountability.

A last round of negotiations on a legally binding treaty to address the global scourge of plastic pollution has opened in Busan, South Korea.

Many nations hope to reduce the half a billion tons of plastic made each year. But pushback from plastic and oil producers, and Donald Trump’s election, could scuttle an agreement.

Activists from Greenpeace hold banners ahead of the opening ceremony of the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution in Busan, South Korea, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (Kang Sun-bae/Yonhap via AP) This is a collection of photos chosen by AP photo editors.

With negotiations underway for a global plastics treaty, business leaders and scientists explain how we can stop the plastic waste polluting our oceans.

Is virgin plastic production vital or completely unsustainable?They are urging the treaty to cut plastic production by at least 75 percent by 2040, from 2019 levels.

Negotiations on a first global treaty to curb plastic pollution are moving "very, very slowly", diplomats and observers told AFP on Wednesday, threatening the chances of reaching an agreement.